2023-09-22 01:32:00
The Venezuelan Parliament, where the government has an absolute majority, proposed a referendum on Thursday on the country’s “rights” in the territory of Esequibo, a region rich in natural resources and oil that it disputes with neighboring Guyana.
“I propose to this honorable Assembly to carry out a major national consultation through a consultative referendum,” declared Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly.
Objective: that “the Venezuelan people, through a direct and secret vote, make a decision and strengthen the inalienable rights of Venezuela and its people in the territory of Esequibo,” declared Mr. Rodriguez, without specifying the date of the referendum.
Esequibo (or Essequibo), sometimes also called Guayana Esequiba, is a territory of 160,000 square kilometers, under the administration of Guyana (125,000 inhabitants of 800,000 Guyanese in 2012) and where English is spoken. It contains oil and mineral deposits and rich watersheds.
Guyana, a former British colony, claims that the border between the two countries was fixed in 1899 by a court of arbitration. But, for Venezuela, the Esequibo River is the natural border between the two countries, as it was in 1777.
Guyana launched proceedings in 2018, which are still ongoing, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to confirm its current borders.
This parliamentary proposal comes two days after the Venezuelan government denounced Guyana’s calls for tenders for oil blocks off the coast of the Esequibo, in “maritime zones awaiting delimitation”, according to Caracas.
Guyana defended its “right to conduct economic development activities in any part of its sovereign territory or any corresponding maritime territory.”
US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols on Wednesday expressed Washington’s support for Guyana’s oil tenders in the area claimed by Venezuela.
In response, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry accused the United States of “promoting a dangerous escalation of a dispute that for years has been addressed through diplomatic and peaceful mechanisms.”
The dispute was reignited in 2015 when US oil giant Exxon Mobil discovered oil deposits off the Esequibo coast, which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
Guyana, 800,000 inhabitants, has reserves of more than 10 billion barrels, which could increase thanks to new discoveries.
It is already the country with the largest reserves per capita in the world, even ahead of Brunei, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The President of Guyana Irfaan Ali declared in an interview with AFP in September 2022 that Esequibo was “100% Guyanese (…) We are very clear on where our borders are”. He said oil and gas must provide the country with the resources to diversify the economy and build the Guyana of the future.
09/22/2023 01:31:27 – Caracas (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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